James, Davis replace Kobe and Shaq Show
THE National Basketball Association (NBA) will finally restart in Florida on Friday, with no less than Lebron James returning to action for the Los Angeles Lakers.
James, the league’s most solid star for quite some time now and leading candidate for the season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, will suit up with teammate Anthony Davis to resume their much-admired role as the team’s toughest 1-2 punch since the Kobe & Shaq Show for the Lakers some years back.
The Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers at 9 a.m., Florida time on July 31, in Walt Disney World in Orlando, protecting their league-leading record in the Western Conference.
Game One will pit the New Orleans Pelicans against the Utah Jazz at 6:30 a.m., officially triggering resumption of a season abruptly halted on March 11 when Utah’s center Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19.
There are 13 West teams and nine East squads at the Walt Disney bubble after the NBA’S board of governors voted 29-1 on June 4 for the July 31 restart, stretching the playoffs up to October.
Before the stoppage, six teams had entered the playoffs—memphis, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix and Washington. Already out are Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, Golden State, Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago and Charlotte.
For New York, it marked the seventh straight time that it missed advancing to the next round.
James, a Laker for the second straight year, is keen on pocketing a title again after his last win in Cleveland some four years or so ago. And, if ever, it’d be the Lakers’ 17th overall.
Dominant in his last nine games before the season’s stoppage almost four months ago now, James averaged 30.0 points, 9.4 assists and 8.2 rebounds while also firmly entrenching himself as the league’s leader in assists.
Add the fact that James, in his pursuit of a fourth NBA ring, is having more than an ample support in Davis, who is averaging 26.4 points and 9.4 rebounds while blocking 2.4 shots per game in his first season on the West Coast.
I can’t wait to see James play again. And with Davis on his side, it’s like throwing gas on fire.
THAT’S IT Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) officially ended on Saturday, July 25—another of the many sorry victims in the sports world of the coronavirus pandemic. The closing ceremonies had a touch of drama and were bathed in sad farewell as it became the last sports coverage of ABS-CBN, the UAAP’S coveror for 20 years since 2000, after the giant TV network was controversially denied a franchise renewal by a vote of 70-11 in the lower house of Congress early this month. University of Santo Tomas was awarded the general championship for high school (sixth straight) and seniors (fourth straight) divisions after action in volleyball, football, baseball, softball, athletics, tennis and 3x3 basketball were halted in February due to Covid-19. Sigh.